1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heating cooker.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has been provided a heating cooker in which a steam generator is supplied with water from a water supply tank movably fitted to the cooker main body (see, e.g., JP 2004-11995 A). In this heating cooker, elapsed time starting from the fitting of the water supply tank to the main body is counted by a timer. Then, if the elapsed time is determined to be over a specified time period, a notification of a water replacement request on the water supply tank is made by a notification means. As a result of this, hygienically problematic old water in the water supply tank is prevented from being used for steam generation.
However, in this heating cooker, since remaining water after heating within the steam generator, from which chlorine has been evaporated, is liable to corrosion, leaving the water remaining within the steam generator as it is after heating cooking would be unhygienic for cooking of foods and is a problem.
Accordingly, the inventors of the present invention have made a heating cooker in which water remaining within the steam generator after heating cooking is drained into a tank for storage of water to be supplied to the steam generator and then water returned to the tank is recycled. It is noted that this heating cooker is explained for an easier understanding only, and is neither a known technique nor a prior art.
In this heating cooker, since corrosion-prone remaining water within the steam generator after heating is returned to the tank, the degree of deterioration of water quality within the tank varies largely depending on the drain frequency of the water within the steam generator. As a result, only by notification of a water replacement request on the tank at a time of elapse of a specified time period since a fitting of the tank to the main body, an optimum water replacement responsive to the deterioration of water quality within the tank could not be achieved.